Issue - meetings

To hear from Robert Edmonds, Director of Age Concern Haringey and Chair of the Haringey Association of Voluntary and Community Organisations on Stroke Prevention from a voluntary sector point of view.

There is a high incidence of stroke amongst older people.

There are three Age concern stroke clubs across Haringey, which have been running for approximately 15years, they were started with a donation by Tottenham Spurs Football Club.

The clubs are funded by the TPCT with a Haringey Council top up and run for forty weeks a year.

There is also additional support e.g. befriending, buddy schemes with new and long term stroke patients.  Members are also in contact with each other outside of the clubs.

A challenge for the clubs is that they have to cover everything within the 2hrs.  If transport is late then this is cut dramatically and therefore the clubs are not able to fulfil everything they had intended to with a person.

Big issues are:

1. Transport to activities including the stroke clubs – if your transport does not arrive then you simply can not attend.
2. Finding health trainers who are qualified and covering the cost of these.
3. People are not being signposted on appropriately.
4. People are not being navigated back into support when they need it.

The importance of access to information and advice was stressed.

It is very important for people to be ready to listen when discussing health needs.  Being diagnosed with a condition can come as a shock to people and they may therefore need time to adjust and accept what they are being told.

Important to ensure that stroke patients are not kept in a box – people need to remember that they need access to a wide range of services e.g. support in the home.

Stroke services right across the board can only work well if they are working together with other local agencies.

The Expert Patient Programme has had 180 people graduate through it.  These skills should be utilised for the community.  The programme should be about more than people just going through it – people should be encouraged and empowered to become involved in other aspects of work associated with the programme.

There needs to be a co-ordinated support and advocacy strategy for people with long term conditions and those newly diagnosed. 

Consideration for recommendation in final report.

Greater community involvement is needed.  Low level preventative work can be led by people in the community within existing health centres with support from professionals.

When the planning is taking place for the Neighbourhood health centres there needs to be engagement with this concept.

Consideration for recommendation in final report.

Points of discussion

Work around Expert Patient Programmes needs to link with other strategies that are taking place e.g. Experience Counts.  Should be about capacity building, building social capital.

Links made with LAA target around volunteering.

There is an overlap between the work that Different Strokes does and the work that Age Concern does.  The main difference is the age profiles of each group, noted that some people go to both groups.

The importance of caring for Carers is noted.

Discussion around the need for a multi-disciplinary forum for people involved  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30